Fresh Faces for Garden Grove’s Tet Festival

Teaching its elders a lesson in politics, a student group has won the right to put on Garden Grove’s Tet festival, which for years has been marred by bickering within the Vietnamese American community.

The Union of Vietnamese Student Assns. of Southern California made its pitch to the City Council earlier this month, competing against two groups. Each group promised it could unite the community. One was the Vietnamese Community of Southern California, which has sponsored many Tet festivals; the other was a coalition of Garden Grove business leaders.

The student group, which has years of experience sponsoring Tet festivals, was an easy winner in a 5-0 vote by the council.

The student group and its several speakers showed how it spent money from previous Tet festivals and that it’s got the funds--$30,000--to get the next one rolling.

“We may be young, but we know what we’re doing,” said Phu Nguyen, 24, president of the student group and a recent graduate of Cal State Fullerton.

“I know they’ll do a good job, but if they need our help, we’ll be there for them,” said Jimmy Tong Nguyen, from the business group.

The 2002 event is set for Feb. 15-17 at Garden Grove Park, across from Bolsa Grande High School. City officials are talking about a five-year contract after that.

For years, the student group and the Vietnamese Community of Southern California have organized competing Tet festivals on separate weekends. The students were in Westminster last year, the older group in Garden Grove. But Garden Grove city officials were unhappy that the festival there earned just $6,000 and festival organizers couldn’t adequately explain how the money had been spent.

The students, on the other hand, could account for the $60,000 they took in. And they wound up with almost a $20,000 profit, which they split among local charities and the student group’s own programs. Last year, the festival drew about 70,000 people for two days; the goal for the three-day 2002 festival is 100,000 people.

Several members of the Vietnamese Community of Southern California, unhappy with the leadership, spoke in favor of the student group at the council meeting.

But the two groups may compete again. The Vietnamese Community of Southern California may still decide to hold its own Tet festival in another city, maybe Santa Ana.

Tet is the lunar new-year holiday that has great significance culturally and spiritually for Vietnamese, Chinese and some Koreans.

The student group knows something about Tet festivals. It’s been organizing them for 19 years.

It’s an evolving group, with an executive board of students and recent students who serve for two years. There also is an adult advisory board, comprising mostly former group leaders. The advisory board leaves most major decisions to the young people.

The students gained their enthusiasm for activism on college campuses across Southern California. Almost every college has a Vietnamese Student Assn. In the early 1980s, the groups joined forces to gain political clout.

Frances Nguyen, a founding leader who now works for the Westminster School District, said that in the early ‘80s, students remembered living in Vietnam.

“Many were homesick or had family still in Vietnam,” she said. “We used the UVSA to raise money for refugees or to send home. But it also became a chance to preserve Vietnamese culture.”

The association’s first Tet festival was at a Santa Ana park. But its festivals have moved around since.

Last year’s student association festival was at a vacant lot across from the Westminster Civic Center. But that’s the same lot where Westminster plans to build a Vietnamese War memorial, making the space unavailable next year.

Garden Grove officials are pleased with their new Tet partner.

“I’ve been to the students’ festivals in an official role, then come back later with my children. I’ve enjoyed them so much,” said Councilman Mark Rosen.

Mayor Bruce Broadwater backed the student proposal with two caveats: that they hire an independent auditor so the city can account for all festival money; and that half the proceeds go to Garden Grove-based charities or causes.

No problem, said members of the young group.

“We welcome an auditor. Our books have always been open,” said its vice president, Nicole Nguyen, 24, a UC Irvine graduate.

For the students, Garden Grove is already home. The association is based in a two-room suite on the city’s Western Avenue.

At one night meeting this week, the association’s leaders talked about their new partnership with Garden Grove.

What the group would like to see is a wider community audience.

“The crowd is still about 90% Vietnamese,” said Phu Nguyen. “We’d like to see that change.”